‘THE OPENER’ IS a thesis statement worth
studying. The ferocious, bridge-burning
single by Melbourne punk band Camp
Cope is stuffed with derisive comments
plucked directly from the mouths of
those who dared utter them: “It’s another
man telling us we can’t fill up a room/It’s
another man telling us to book a smaller
venue.” By the time guitarist, vocalist
and chief songwriter Georgia Maq spits
back, “Well, see how far we’ve come not
listening to you!”, you’ll be practically
vibrating with adrenaline and a familiar
kind of fury.
“It felt like a song that I just needed to
release after...a lot of being ground down
slowly, by men,” Maq tells me in the
weeks leading up to the release of Camp
Cope’s new record How to Socialise and
Make Friends. A solo artist for the first
few years of her career, Maq played her
first show in 2013 at age 19, and two
years later joined forces with drummer
Sarah Thompson and bassist Kelly-Dawn
Hellmrich to form Camp Cope. Within a
year, their debut self-titled album was in
the world.
While Camp Cope have fast become a
political powerhouse in music – drawing
justified comparisons to the likes of
Bratmobile, Bikini Kill and other hero
bands of the 90s riot grrrl movement
– the formative years of busking and
playing “hundreds of shows where [Maq]
was the only woman on the bill” remain a
motivating force.
At the start of this year, Camp Cope
played at Falls Festival in Byron Bay.
While performing ‘The Opener’ to a
heaving mass of fans, Maq changed
some key lyrics to comment on the
line-up and timetable of the festival:
“It’s another man telling us we can’t fill
up a tent/It’s another fucking festival
booking only nine women.”
The backlash that followed seemed
to prove a point: artists will be praised
for their feminist politics – but only if
they’re polite about it and don’t kick up
too much of a fuss.
“Music prides itself on being
progressive,” Maq says. “Everyone’s
talking about issues, but it’s still so
fucking sexist. There are so many shows
PHOTOBYNAOMIBEVERIDGE
CAMP COPE HAVE NEVER PULLED PUNCHES IN THEIR RAW AND
HONEST SONGS, AND THEIR NEW ALBUM IS NO DIFFERENT.
COPInG
COPING JUSt
JUST
FINE
FINE
32 THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU 23 FEB–8 MAR 2018